Flowers in the Darkness
by Chumunga64
Summary: A look at Ravus's thoughts as he lives through the World of Darkness with everyone else.
1. Chapter 1

*Note: Iris is 18 at the beginning of this story*

It had been nine years since Noctis had been absorbed into the crystal. Ravus Nox Fleuret looked out of the airship he was currently a passenger of. His partner, Aranea was asleep. Ravus envied her ability to just sleep through things seemingly without a care in the world. Whenever he tried to he kept reminiscing about his sister's death at the hand of that abomination. He himself had himself had almost been slain, or worse daemonified by Ardyn. It was only through the timely intervention of the King's retinue that he survived.

...well not only them.

While Ravus was recovering from the battle of Altissia, both he and Ignis sustained grievous injuries during their battles. Ignis had lost the ability to see out of left eye due to putting on the ring of the Lucii. Inwardly, Ravus felt a bit jealous. He had lost an entire arm doing the same. Ardyn managed to puncture several holes into the former general as well.

While Ignis was able to get back out in the field after a week in the hunter's infirmary, it took Noctis months for him to get back into fighting shape. It would have taken longer if he didn't have Aranea helping him. He wasn't there when his beloved King became absorbed into the crystal, however. A fact that haunts him to this day.

Ravus himself spent an extensive time recovering from his injuries. Gladiolus' younger sibling always found the time to keep him company during his stay in the hospital bed. The young woman proved to be much more interesting than Ravus had assumed and he found himself confiding himself to her more than he had liked.

When Ravus was fully recovered the encroaching darkness had almost engulfed the land. There were no longer any warring nations, no that conflict became insignificant in the shadow of the current crisis the world was facing. The sun no longer protected humanity from daemons. Sure, plants still grew and the temperature of the land stayed relatively consistent but the sun's greatest benefit- preventing daemons from spawning had been lost to humanity.

The Hunters were now the defenders of humanity and Ravus joined their endeavor. He had insisted on doing missions alone so he could have some peace and quiet but his requests were rebuked by just about everyone. Apparently, he needed a partner and almost everyone already paired up. The only people available to aid him were a couple of rookies who he had never seen before and Iris.

Ravus initially scoffed at the young woman's offer. What could someone like her do against such vicious beasts? Her brother and the Cor Leonis came to her defense immediately. Gladiolus bragged about how she carried the strength and valor of the Amicitia family with pride. The Marshall, however gave Ravus an actual argument. Apparently Clarus decided to focus all his attention on training Gladiolus to become the next Shield of the King, leaving Iris behind. That thought made Ravus burn in anger for a reason he hadn't known at the time.

Thankfully, Clarus recognized that he couldn't be there for the both of his children and had a plan for that. The man entrusted Cor to oversee Iris' combat training, a duty that the Marshall was honoured to uphold. The two met up regularly to train together but ever since Insomnia fell, Cor pushed her infinitely harder into more advanced lessons.

Ravus heard many tales of the Marshall's battle prowess and some firsthand experience only proved to him that those tales weren't exaggerated in the slightest. This revelationregarding Iris further piqued Ravus' interest. He would have never guessed that the friendly girl that kept him company was also a fierce fighter. He wanted to spar with Iris a bit before deciding to accept her as a partner.

The two dueled twice- once with their bare fists and another time with wooden replicas of their weapons. Their first bout had been far more even than Ravus had anticipated. Her brother taught her all of his techniques right after he mastered them, keeping her skills sharp. Ravus cursed himself for failing to properly balance his hand to hand skills with his expert swordsmanship. One errant punch by the former general of the Niflheim army lead to him being thrown to the ground, ending the match.

Ravus had never felt so humiliated.

"Don't feel too bad. I practiced with my bare fists way longer than I had with a katana." Iris' tone was dripping with smugness.

Their second bout was a more one sided affair. Despite Cor's excellent training regime, Ravus still had much more experience fighting actual battles. He deftly avoiding her admittedly impressive katana swings with relative ease and managed to land multiple solid blows before she yielded to his might. Still, her frightening talent intrigued Ravus and he knew that one day she will only become even more formidable foe.

"You've proven yourself. You're quite the fighter."

"Wow, praise from Ravus Nox Fleuret himself. Well, I'll be damned." unlike her previous quip during their battle, there was no snark in her voice. She had a genuine admiration for him and was quite pleased that he deemed her a worthy combatant.

"Does that mean I could be your partner during missions?"

"Yes...that would be nice."

That was the start of their partnership.

The two of them formed an unstoppable duo, slaying daemons wherever they were dispatched. As the endless night engulfed the world, they kept on fighting to preserve hope and prosperity. All they needed to do was hold the line until Noctis came back.

It was an interesting time. Every surviving member of the Niflheim army still treated him with the same respect he had commanded back then but they no longer seemed to fear his wrath. No, his old comrades and underlings became more like brothers in arms. It was odd how such a disaster brought people closer together. Lucians and the people of Niflheim went from sworn enemies to drinking buddies seemingly overnight.

Ravus himself matured as a person. The High Commander had only one person left to bear a grudge against- the madman hiding out in the Citadel. But he no longer carried his burdens alone. He had many allies and some he would even call friends. The raven haired girl who he took in as a partner being a prime example.

Months had passed since they started working together and Ravus surprisingly found more joy in fighting and hunting with her than had had on his own. At first he chalked it up to getting acclimated to teamwork in general until they started getting assigned to different missions. Iris accompanied Gladiolus to install anti daemon lights in the newly rebuilt Altissia and thus Ravus was saddled with Prompto to hunt some sabretusks.

It was hell. The blonde just couldn't stop talking for more than a minute! Sure, Iris could talk for hours on end but she limited those conversations during times of leisure. During battle she only talked whenever she needed to discuss tactics, maybe drop a compliment or two when the fights became interesting.

Prompto took pictures during battle.

Ravus later teamed up with others such as Ignis, Gladiolus or one many of the hunters whose names he did not bother to remember. They were a lot less _talkative_ than Prompto but Ravus still didn't feel completely comfortable with teaming with anyone other Iris. He was grateful when they were sent on missions together again.

Months soon turned into years and Ravus soon faced a moral dilemma. Iris had grown quite a lot since they first started fighting together. To be fair, everyone matured as well but Ravus did not concern himself with how everyone else had changed. The former High Commander himself actually attempted to grow a beard until Iris urged him to shave it off "You look Santa Claus" were the words she had used to dissuade him from keeping his facial hair.

Iris however became strikingly beautiful and everyone had noticed it. The years of fighting developed her body into a toned form that only _enhanced_ her "natural assets". She was blessed with Amicitia genes and soon became extremely popular with men as her brother was with women. Thankfully, she was much more selective when it came to the men she chose than her brother was. Ravus never really had to worry about a fool taking advantage of her since whenever men approached her at bars brimming with liquid confidence; Iris painfully reminded them why she was one of the most elite warriors in their ranks.

What Ravus _did_ have to worry about was how he was starting to see Iris. He had always known she was beautiful but she was barely an adult when they first met each other. He had always looked at her like a surrogate little sister but as time passed his feelings towards her changed. Ravus found it quite disconcerting.

Things became worse when his partner started dating other men. He was ashamed to feel the burning rage of jealousy but he was too cowardly to talk to her. Ravus began inviting different women to his bed in an effort to forget about her. They were all beautiful of course, gorgeous women with painted lips and immaculate makeup who were all too eager to get to know the former High Commander more intimately.

Unfortunately, no matter hard he tried; he couldn't get Iris out of his mind. She always replaced whatever boring woman he was sleeping with in his mind and that only spurred his frustrations. One time he even called out Iris' name in the throes of ecstasy instead of whoever he was in bed with (he later learned that her name was Linda). Needless to say, the two never spoke to each other again.

Thankfully, the news of the hunters planning to restore Tenebrae let Ravus think about something other than his growing affection for Iris. Apparently, Cor and Cid were planning on taking back Tenebrae for quite a while. The vertical design of the province made a rather narrow location. That meant that more dangerous daemons never spawned there. Five teams were sent to clear out the place of daemons and dangerous wildlife and he and Iris had to go down in the swamps to clear out the area. That swamp was a location of a generator that connected to a large portion of the city and they had to clear it out so that the workers could install the lights.

When the two arrived at the swamp there was a Malboro waiting for them.

"You think you're able to handle this, Ravus?"

Ravus scoffed "Please, Marlboros may be seen as intimidating for Lucians but to my people they are a pest at best."

It should have been an easy fight against one Malboro but then a Zu, two Necromancers, and an Iron giant joined the fray making it a an all-out brawl. The duo always prided themselves on keeping themselves calm during battle but both of them found themselves being barely able to breathe let alone think about viable strategies.

They couldn't attack them all at once so Iris devised a strategy to get the daemons trained on the dangerous wildlife. Iris scurried away, occasionally taking some cheap potshots at their distracted foes while Ravus focused his lightning magic to the waters their opponents were treading in.

It was a battle of attrition that easily lasted for the better part of the day. Well...they had assumed it did, time had been hard to tell ever since the sun disappeared. After a good while, the only foe that remained was the wounded Malboro that still put up a great fight. When the battle was over both Ravus and Iris were battered and covered in Malboro guts.

"We...we did it" Iris said between ragged pants of breath. "Never...fought like...that"

Ravus didn't speak however. He had fought countless times before but he never felt worried whenever he was on the brink of death before but somehow this was different. Ravus went through every possible reason why he may have felt so anxious but deep down, he knew why. He had never seen Iris in such danger before and the thought of her being grievously injured _terrified_ him.

In this state of emotional distress, Ravus actually pulled Iris into a kiss. The second their lips crashed together he realized what he had just done so waited for his partner to break away from him and give him a (well deserved) slap in the face. Shockingly that moment never came and iris actually deepened the kiss and ran her hands through his hair. After what felt like an eternity she finally pulled away and smirked at him

"Took you long enough…"

"Wait, what?"

"Come on Ravus, did you think I was stupid? We all knew that you had a thing for me for a while now."

"I can't belie- wait a minute, we?"

Iris' smirk turned into a sheepish smile "Yeah...Cor, Gladdy, Iggy, Aranea, Cindy, and even Prompto caught on really quickly…"

Ravus felt ashamed. Even _Prompto_ found out about his pining.

"Gladdy told me that you were too much of a wuss to confess but I knew that you just weren't the best with emotions. I wanted to wait until you were ready to tell me but I never expected you to just kiss me like that."

Iris scraped some sludge off her shirt "and covered in Malboro guts?"

Ravus straightened himself out. "We should probably find an outpost and a place to clean up and rest for the night"

"Hmm, I don't think we will able to find two rooms at this hour"

It was now Ravus' turn to smirk "I wasn't planning on booking two rooms…"

* * *

Their first time together was raging whirlwind of emotions. All of Ravus' feelings were released during their lovemaking session. Hearing her yell his name over and over again was something he only thought was possible in the dreams that often made him wake up in a cold sweat. When the two finally disengaged and Iris fell asleep on top of him, Ravus felt at peace for the first time since his mother perished.

Then he realized that he would have to tell everyone else about his blossoming relationship with Iris. He didn't know how he could possibly inform Gladiolus about everything that had just happened. Now Ravus wasn't the most social person in the world but even he knew that he couldn't just walk up to the large man and say "So I had just fucked your younger sister silly last night…"

He yawned. He couldn't think of a plan while he was this tired so he just opted to go to sleep and worry about it later.

Ravus met Gladio at a local bar about a week later. The older Amicitia sibling greeted him with open arms; something Ravus expected would not last long

"Iris told me about the shit you guys dealt with out there. Damn, if me and Iggy knew about what you guys were facing we would have came down for the assist. All we had to deal with was a few imps.

"To be fair, neither of us knew what we were getting in to. Speaking of Iris, I would like to discuss something about her with you."

"Well, lay it on me man."

Ravus let out a melancholic sigh "Iris and I we're are what you call "an item" now." Ravus steeled himself for whatever Gladio was going to yell at him in response.

"Cool, I wish you the best." was all Gladio said before taking a sip of his beer.

"Is...That all?"

Gladio grunted "What do you want me to say? Stay away from my sister? She's a responsible grown woman dude and I think it would be pretty hypocritical of someone like me to forbid her from doing shit."

Gladio did have a point. Iris frequently described her brother as "slutty" something that the big man somehow took pride in.

"So, you're fine with us?"

"Yeah. You're a pretty decent guy Ravus and besides I got a feeling that my little sis totally got you whipped!" Gladio pulled him into a close embrace and then whispered in his ear "but of course if you fuck her over I'm going to rip your throat out of your ass." his tone never becoming darker as if it were a promise and not a threat.

Ravus gulped a wad of saliva in fear "Well then…"

"Oh and by the way, Iris totally texted us after you guys fucked after our mission in Tenebrae

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, read it and weep" Gladio showed him his phone screen

 **Sis** : Me and Ravus just spent a night together :D

 **Me:** Fucking finally

 **Iggy:** congratulations, you two

 **Prompy:** LOL, why you told us this through a group message?

"Hey Ravus, we're here"

He was shaken from his thoughts from the other passenger in the airship

"What? Oh yes...Hammerhead"

"You looked like you were deep in thought. Thinking about Iris, weren't you?"

"Actually...I was."

"Damn, you really can't wait to fuck her brains out, can't you?"

Ravus rolled his eyes "Please, my mind isn't always occupied by such crude thoughts. I was merely recounting how we both grew close."

Aranea laughed "Geez, didn't know you were into such sappy bullshit!"

"Oh yes, I'm the one that's like that. It's not like you were willing to fly all the way to Hammerhead just to visit Cid."

Aranea shrugged "What can I say; I haven't seen my girl in a while."

The two of them stepped out of Aranea's airship only to be greeted by Gladiolus and Cid.

"My granddaughter's is in the garage, Aranea. She's been whining about not being able to see you for two weeks so you better get in there before she drives me crazy."

Gladio guffawed as Aranea sheepishly walked to the garage.

"Yo Ravus, what's up?"

"Nothing of note, unfortunately. Has anything eventful happened to you?"

"Well, Gentiana helped me and Iggy fight off a Naglfar just outside Lestallum."

"Really, Shiva herself aided you?"

"Yup. She said she needed a tribute however and chose Ignis."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means that she wanted to sleep with Iggy and my boy was happy to oblige her. I always knew Iggy was picky with women but I never thought he would only settle for Gods."

"Is that why Ignis is not here right now?"

"Uh-huh. I spent the last couple of missions with my little sister and holy shit that girl is head over heels for you!"

A genuine smile made its way on Ravus' face "That's...good to hear"

Gladio crossed his arms "No kidding. The last time she acted like this over a guy was back when she was into Noct…"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Iris was super into Noct back when they were young"

"I see" was all he could say through gritted teeth as he walked away from the conversation.

Gladio had realized he may have messed up and quickly texted iris

 **Me:** I may or may not have told Ravus that you used to be into to Noctis. Sorry

 **Sis:** God dammit Gladdy!

* * *

It had been a day since Ravus had walked away from his conversation with Gladio and now he was pacing around his permanent residence in Lestallum. He couldn't believe he acted like such a child at the mere mention of _his_ name! He didn't even despise Noctis anymore, in fact he was sure that the Chosen King would come back soon to save the planet. That just made his reaction towards the revelation that Iris used to be interested in Noctis that much more pathetic. How on earth was he going to live down such stupidity?

A knock on the door temporarily distracted him from his self-reflection. The person who knocked opened the door slowly and revealed themselves- it was Iris.

"Gladdy told me about what happened." she clicked her tongue "Gotta admit, never thought you were the jealous type…"

Before he could respond, Iris pushed him on top of the bed and straddled him.

"What are you-?"

"I just want to prove that you're the only one that I love…" Iris rubbed her crotch between his legs, the friction instantly got him aroused and his lover giggled when she felt his erection feebly try to escape the restriction of his pants.

"I-Iris...Gods…"

Surprisingly, she got up from on top of him. Before he could express his disappointment he heard his pants unzip and felt Iris' cool tongue running against his length

"Mm, no matter how many times I see it, I'm always impressed with how big you are!"

"Iris" he's whimpering her name like a prayer as she's sucking all of his frustrations out of him. She bobbing her head up and down his length and he swears that it's the perfect rhythm. Everything feels so good that his hands are trembling for the first time since he held his first sword and his legs feel like they're going to give out at any minute. She gives him a warm smile that causes him to melt even more before she pulls him deeper in her throat, causing him to buck his hips and knock over his alarm clock from the bedside table. By the time she's finished with him he's a crimson faced panting mess and he couldn't look more adorable in her eyes.

After she cleaned herself up she simply smiled at her boyfriend "you still mad?"

"Not after what you just did…"

"Good. By the way it's really adorable how jealous you got. If you still feel insecure I only had a crush on Noctis because he was like the first guy I met. As we grew older I only saw him as a friend. Besides, he was too scrawny for me and that _hair_! Gods, it looks dumb."

Ravus laughed heartily at her insults before pulling her into a hug.

"My apologies for acting like such a fool. Allow me to make it up to you…" before Iris could react, she found herself on the bed with Ravus' head under her skirt.

He's trailing kisses along her thigh before reaching the final barrier between his mouth and her heat. He discarded her panties in one swift motion before giving her a tentative kiss against the swell of her, and she's wondering how long it will take for her to cum her brains out.

He licks inside of her, back out to tease along the fragile skin where her thigh meets, runs his tongue along her folds like he's playing- and god, he's got her so hot that she's about to scream at him to get a move on already. Ravus was going through a power-trip and he loved every second of what he's doing to her.

After several more moments of his attention she lets out an ear piercing shriek as she cums all over his mouth. Ravus takes a moment to lick his lips and savours the sweet taste of her.

"Consider this my apology…"

At this point, Iris was beginning to come down from her high "I should get pissed at you more often than…"


	2. Chapter 2- Dinner

The blaring alarm woke Ravus up. As his eyes fluttered pen he began to notice something- the person who should have been in his arms (well, arm) had mysteriously disappeared. A surge of disappointment passed through his body until his nostrils caught a whiff of a delectable scent. Ravus' lips upturned into a slight smile as he got up from the large bed. The first he did was open the curtains to let some light in.

A peaceful expression graced his face as he surveyed the beautiful landscape of Tenebrae. He never would have thought that he would be able to return to his ancestral home nor did he ever think that Tenebrae would be free from the tyranny of the empire. Ravus silently thanked Noctis once more for all he had done for the world and hoped that the late King found some in death. Hopefully he reunited with his sister…

The next he did was survey the room for clothes since all he had on were a pair of boxer shorts. He spotted the pair of pants he wore last night strewn on the floor. The shirt he wore had mysteriously disappeared, however. He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to think about anything with an empty stomach he opted to just brush his teeth and go to the kitchen. Besides, he was fairly certain that his love wouldn't mind the sight of him without a shirt.

As Ravus stepped into the kitchen, he grinned at the sight of the woman who was humming a tune as she worked the stove. Iris was clad in his shirt that was a tad too large on her. As his eyes scanned down her body and he noticed that other than his shirt, he could also see a peak of her black panties.

Iris let out a squeal of surprised when her husband snuck up behind her only to softly squeeze her ass before attacking her neck with open mouth kisses.

"Ravvy stop, I'm cooking right now!" she said between bouts of laughter. In response Ravus backed away with a sheepish expression on his face and apologized.

"Gods, you are a mess sometimes! Sorry for waking up without you it's just that you're usually up way before me and I wanted to make you something special for breakfast seeing as how you usually eat some crappy cereal."

Ravus was about to go on a rant about how "Wheat Bits" were a staple breakfast in the Niflheim Army before he looked at what Iris was cooking

"Crepes…"

"I heard they were considered a delicacy in Tenebrae so I decided to make…" Iris trailed off as she saw the contemplative look on his face. She started to panic. What if the sight of crepes made some painful memories of his homeland and family re-surface? She couldn't believe she didn't think this through!

Before she could say anything to him, Ravus pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head before pulling away and rubbing the golden wedding band on her hand.

"My family...used to eat crepes during special occasions...all of us together…"

"Thank you for being so thoughtful, Iris. They smell lovely and I am sure they will taste just as good. What can I possibly do to repay you for your kindness?"

Iris' eyes lit up the second she heard those words " _well_...there is one way…"

"What is it?"

"As you know, my brother's getting married soon and he asked us to get to know her and her family in Lucis."

"Sure, what date did you have in mind?"

"Tomorrow"

"Tomorrow?! Darling, that's a long flight and we will need someplace to stay as well-"

"That's why booked a flight for this evening and a hotel room for a week."

"It seems you have prepared accordingly- wait a minute, you've planned this for a while, haven't you?"

"Kinda"

Instead of getting mad at her for being so manipulative Ravus instead just let out a soft laughter. "You would make an excellent politician, Iris. Well, since you already made our travelling arrangements, I suppose that I cannot deny your request. But first, let's savor this breakfast you made."

* * *

After a spending an entire night overcoming the jet lag they experienced the first thing Ravus and Iris had to do was have a dinner with Gladio and her fiancé. Iris' brother told them that he booked a really fancy restaurant in the heart of the city.

As Ravus pulled the chair out for Iris and sneered in disgust "I had hoped that your brother would be on time for an event that he had invited us to."

"Gladdy probably had some last minute work to do. You know how busy he is."

"You do know we have similar responsibilities? We're the heads of the Tenebrae Restoration committee!"

Before Iris could refute his point, her brother arrived arm in arm with his fiancé Dahlia.

"Sorry we're late guys; Dahlia took forever to prepare for this!" Gladio said with a big grin

"Yes, and my big oaf of a future husband refused to ask for directions." Dahlia snarked back.

Ravus whispered "I like this one already" to Iris which caused her to let out an adorable giggle

The other members of the party sat down and Gladio took the time to introduce Dahlia to his sister and brother in law.

"Dahlia's been dying to get to know the both of you and I kept everything under wraps because I wanted her to ask you herself. Ya see, she's a journalist and I felt that she was better off asking the questions.

"Yes, your brother and I actually met after he suggested to Vyv that his magazine cover the restoration of Lucis. Gladio figured that if his magazine covered the government's efforts then the citizens would always get updates on how much progress of the restoration."

"Gladio and I spent a lot of time together because of this and we just sort of hit it off!"

Iris clasped her hand together in joy and cooed "That's _so_ romantic!" while Ravus just gave them a stoic congratulations.

"Anyway, enough about how Gladio and I met. I want to know how a member of the Amicitia family, the famed "Shields of Lucis" ended up marrying the King of Tenebrae."

"Well to be fair, when we formed our unbreakable union Tenebrae was still under construction. I only became King because I still had the loyalty of the surviving Tenebraen citizens."

Iris continued his statement "Yeah, we kind grew super close during the ten years of darkness. Ravus as my partner and things just escalated from there."

"Sorry if Dahlia's questions caught you off guard." Gladio chimed in

"Yeah, if that question was a little awkward, I apologize. Sometimes I forget to turn my "journalist mode" off" Dahlia said as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"It's no bother. In fact, I would happily spend hours discussing how wonderful my Queen is" Iris felt her cheeks heat up at her husband's unabashed praise."

"Wow...marrying a king. That's like every girl's dream!"

"Well, I didn't know that I would become the Queen of Tenebrae when I married Ravus, I married him because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him."

"Don't you find it weird that you got married before your older brother, Iris? Not that there's anything wrong with that it's just such an uncommon thing to happen."

Iris shrugged her shoulders "I mean, we both knew that we were in love with each other so we just went for it. Why wait an arbitrary amount of time because that's what you're supposed to do when you know in your heart that he's "the one"? The wedding itself was different than what I imagine my wedding would be like."

"How so?"

"Well, as a kid I always wanted a big fairytale wedding but I- what _we_ had was something far more special." Iris intertwined her fingers with Ravus "it was just us and our closest friends in the world without light. It was small, intimate, and absolutely perfect!" she finished her statement with a contented sigh

"And I was the best man!" Gladio declared smugly

"Only because Iris wanted Cor to walk her down the aisle" Ravus responded flatly which caused Iris and Dahlia to chuckle.

"Okay, but how's it like living in a castle?"

"Well, while it looks kinda outdated from the outside, it's actually really modernized without taking away from most of its charm. That's good because I am not going to cook anything in a medieval kitchen!"

Ravus crossed his arms indignantly "Of course my home would be modern! We Tenebraens pride ourselves with embracing the future without forgetting our long and storied past."

"I do love the rustic charm of our home though. Insomnia is nice but I never really felt at home in the hustle and bustle of the big city. When we were fighting the daemons I knew I wanted to be somewhere I can ride chocobos freely and grow my own vegetables and Tenebrae was the perfect place. Never did plan on the castle though…"

"But don't you get homesick living in another continent? Or miss your family"

"Listen, I had to deal with Gladdy for most of my life so I'm glad that I finally have some space! And all of us- Ravus, Gladdy, me, we have such busy lives that we could barely see each other even if we lived in the same building!"

Ravus began speaking as well "I also have the feeling that our family is going to ge- OUCH" Iris cut him with a harsh elbow to his side which caused Gladio and Dahlia to eye the other couple suspiciously.

The rest of the dinner was just all of them exchanging pleasantries. Iris kept hounding them for wedding information which actually caused Gladio to fluster a bit.

* * *

Iris and Ravus finally arrived in their hotel room after having to sneak past various reporters asking them why they were in Insomnia and it made the both of them extremely tired. Iris collapsed on the bed as Ravus removed his prosthetic arm

"We should get some sleep; we're going to meet Dahlia's family tomorrow."

"Why did you cut me off while I was speaking?"

"Because you were going to just blurt out the news randomly, Ravus!"

"We're going to have to tell everyone soon."

"Yeah, but I want to do it _after_ the wedding. Gladdy's already stressed out enough so how do you think he's going to react when I tell him he's going to become an uncle soon?"

"Well, it's better to them everyone now then to hide it until it's too obvious." You're body's not going to wait until you are ready to announce the news"

"I know...I'm just...really nervous."

"I am too, which is why we should tell all our friends and family. They will be there to help us if we need anything."

"Yeah...you're right."

"Of course I am. Now get changed. You shouldn't sleep in that dress."


	3. Chapter 3- Daughter Dearest

Eight months after the dinner with Gladio and his former fiancée (now wife) Ravus found himself pacing around the waiting room of the nearest hospital. He thanked the Gods that he helped establish a political council to maintain his home since that meant he had a lot more free time. If he was still the sole ruler of the country he would probably still be in the office right now writing papers.

His wife would have most likely ripped his remaining arm off it he had done just that.

Now he was pacing around in the waiting room with all of his available comrades. If he were to be honest, he shouldn't really be calling them comrades anymore. There weren't much grand battles to be fought anymore and they've grown closer to him than he was comfortable with. Gladiolus, Aranea, Cid, Cindy and Prompto were all there for him. Ignis, Cor and the Glacian were dealing with something else at the moment and they apologized that they couldn't be there. Neither Ravus nor Iris really blamed them since Iris went into labour in the middle of the night.

"Never seen you this nervous when we were fighting, Ravus" Gladio bit back the laughter bubbling from his throat. This attracted the ire of Ravus who almost scolded Gladio until a better crossed his mind.

A wide grin crept on Ravus faces as he spoke "What can I say? I have no experience being a father but plenty of experience fighting. Would you like to know the night your sister and I conceived our child. She looked-"Gladio cut him off

"I do not want to hear about my little sister's sex life!"

"I thought you were cool with Iris doing anything she wanted big guy?" Prompto teased

"I am cool with that. I just don't want to hear about her sex life. In fact, I don't want to know the details of any of you guys' sex lives! Got it?"

Cid steered the conversation back into normality with some sullen words. "Never thought I'd live to see any of my old boys' grandchildren…It's a cryin' shame that Clarus ain't here to see this"

The elder's words made all of them think about what they had all been through. They lived through war, darkness, and monsters and became different people. They lost a part of themselves and they also lost too many close friends and allies. Iris and Ravus' child will be the first of their children born in a new era of peace and prosperity.

A nurse exited the delivery room to inform them of Iris' successful birth. The group told Ravus to go and see his kid first and that they could wait as long as possible. The former army commander found it hard to move through the door to the delivery room but knew that he needed to see Iris and his child.

Iris was sitting up in the bed. She was tired and disheveled from all the work she did but there was still a smile gracing her lips. In her hands was this miniscule, wrinkly ball of a human being. Ravus couldn't help but think about how fragile his child looked.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your daughter?"

"Daughter?"

Iris let out an exhausted chuckled "Yes Ravus, you're a father now. She has your hair by the way."

"We should name her" it was apparent that Ravus had no idea what to say

"Really? 'Cause I was hoping that we'd wait for her to be able to give herself a name a couple years down the line."

"Oh, ha-ha."

"I'm the one who pushed a baby out of me minutes ago and you're the one who's pissed off. Why I am not shocked?"

"Alright, alright. What do you suggest we call her?"

"You think of name. I'm kinda beat…"

"How about Fiorella?"

Iris huffed "Well that came out of nowhere…"

"You and your brother are both named after flowers; I wanted to keep up the tradition. I also didn't want to name her something boring like Daisy or Lily."

"It's actually pretty good...We can shorten it to Ella too. You should invite the others in, most of them flew across the country to see her and I'd hate to disappoint them."

"Alright, I'll make sure they don't stay too long either" Ravus knew that Iris was going to object to this so he shot down her objections before she voiced them. "I know they are your friends and family...they're mine too but knowing you, you're going to want to mingle with them for hours on end and you're already exhausted. They can come anytime they would like in the future."

"Oh, alright"

* * *

When Iris and Fiorella finally arrived at their home Ravus wanted to stay just in case they needed something. Iris told him to go to work because he's one of the people that are running the country and since Tenebrae was just re-established recently they were going to need all the leadership it could get.

Thankfully, most of the members of the council were statesmen that held him in high esteem, in fact Ravus clearly remembered them being young adults when he was just a child and they frequently complimented him for growing up into such a dignified ruler. They even told him to go home early and see his wife and child. Ravus however, knew that his wife would probably skin him alive for promising to go to work and then coming home early because he couldn't trust her or something like that. He had a full day at the committee discussing what the province needed to do to main order.

By the time he arrived home, it was almost midnight. He stripped into his sleepwear before he stepped into his bedroom as to not wake either his wife and or daughter. As he slowly opened the door he saw Fiorella curled up into her mother, her head resting in her bosom and smiled warmly at the sight. He took a closer look at Fiorella and froze.

Her blonde hair reminded him of his own sister with Iris' striking golden eyes being the reminder that she carried Amicitia blood as well. Ravus realized that she was going to be the first woman of the Fleuret family that wouldn't have to bear the curse of the Oracle.

As a child he was told that being the Oracle was great privilege that was bestowed unto his dear sister. At times he even found himself being jealous at the attention she received. It was when their mother perished did he understand the burden that Lunafreya carried. She was kept in gilded cages by the Empire and was used as propaganda tool and a literal tool by the emperor who was infected by the Starscourge. The old fool made her constantly heal his corrupted soul despite the fact his very core was poisoned by monstrous soul and nothing Luna could have done could heal that.

Her sole respite from the anguish in her life was the hope that Noctis would end the scourge as destiny foretold. In the end he did save the world but she didn't live to see any of that. She was murdered by the true mastermind behind everything- Ardyn.

"Honey, are you coming to bed?"

He was shaken from his reverie "You...you heard me come in?"

"When you're raised in a house of bodyguards you tend to be a light sleeper"

"Yes...I would like to be close to the both of you"

Ravus climbed into the large bed and curled himself around his wife. He never wished he had both of his arms more than he did at this moment. He felt as if one arm curled around their bodies wasn't enough.

As his wife and child fell asleep the weight of everything had hit Ravus. He couldn't believe that he had found such happiness after all he did. He actually started weeping in bed despite himself.

"Ravvy? What's wrong?"

"I...I apologize...this is all so overwhelming and I don't deserve you, or her, or any of this…"

Iris frowned as she gently wiped the tears off his face "Ravus...you deserve all of this. You went through so much and you helped us all out. That merits some happiness."

Ravus glanced at Fiorella prompting Iris to become worried "is anything wrong with Ella?"

"Ella will be the first woman in my family line that won't become the Oracle and I...couldn't be more relieved. She deserves her own future."

"Yeah...yeah she does. You're going to be an amazing father I can already tell. Call it a "mother's intuition" if you will."

"That's only because I have the perfect Queen, Wife, and mother by my side."

That night, Ravus had the best sleep in his life.


End file.
